Two of Southeast Asia’s biggest names, Sea Ltd and Petronas, were among the companies lining up to bid for one of Malaysia’s first digital banking licenses as the country opened its financial sector to outsiders.
The national oil company and the Singapore tech group, best known for Shopee, were named alongside local giants Genting Bhd and YTL Corp and the Sarawak state government as likely bidders. Sea and YTL were working together on a joint offer, while Grab and Sunway also signalled interest. Plenty of others were chasing the same prize, with banks, co-operatives and fintechs among the contenders.
Malaysia planned to hand out as many as five licenses, with bids due on 30 June 2021 and winners to be chosen by Bank Negara Malaysia before the end of 2022. The move put Malaysia alongside Hong Kong and Singapore in letting non-financial players into banking, a bet on cashless payments and online lending.
The pandemic had already sped up the shift to digital transactions, and even traditional banks were trimming branches, with HSBC preparing to close some of its Malaysian outlets. Petronas, for its part, said it would aim for Islamic digital banking with a financial institution as its partner.
The detail that matters, in the view of Fortress Capital’s investment director Chua Zhu Lian, was credibility. An official banking license, he said, would let existing fintech firms win consumer trust faster and operate in a market where banking remains tightly regulated.
Singapore had set the pattern the previous December, awarding four licenses to Grab, Sea, Ant Group and a consortium including China’s Greenland Financial Holding Group.
Sources
- Here Are All The Digital Banking Contenders in Malaysia (So Far) – Fintech News Malaysia
- PETRONAS BERMINAT BIDA LESEN BANK DIGITAL | Mekanika
